Beyond the basics: How Strike’s manual pentesting works

At Strike, our pentesting methodology goes beyond standard procedures, ensuring that we identify vulnerabilities others might miss. We prioritize quality, impact, and effectiveness above all else, with a focus on discovering and reporting high business-impact vulnerabilities.

Here’s how the Strikers—our team of security experts—find and exploit vulnerabilities, emphasizing the depth and thoroughness of our approach:

Comprehensive reconnaissance and enumeration

Our Strikers begin with an extensive reconnaissance phase, gathering as much information as possible about our customers' systems, networks, and applications. This includes open-source intelligence (OSINT), deep enumeration, and even covering the dark web and other less obvious aspects of the attack surface. By thoroughly diving into this phase, we ensure that no potential entry points are overlooked.

In-depth vulnerability identification

The Strikers manually explore areas where automated tools often fall short, such as complex logic flaws, chained exploits, and unique environment-specific issues.

Lateral movement and privilege escalation

Once a vulnerability is identified, Strikers don’t stop at the point of discovery. We simulate what a real-world attacker would do by attempting the highest-impact escalation, lateral movement, and privilege escalation. This means we explore how an attacker could pivot from the initial vulnerability to other parts of the network or escalate their privileges to cause more damage. This thorough exploration is crucial for understanding the full impact of a vulnerability.

Real-time feedback and collaboration

Throughout the testing process, our security experts maintain open communication with both our internal Hacking Team and the customer’s team. Our internal hacking team safeguards the quality of all vulnerabilities, ensuring they are assessed for maximum impact. If a significant vulnerability is discovered, we provide immediate feedback and collaborate on potential fixes. This real-time interaction helps align our efforts with the customer's security objectives and ensures swift action on critical vulnerabilities.

Post-exploitation and reporting

We document the exploitation process in detail, including any data exfiltration or system compromise that could occur. This information is then presented in our reports, along with actionable recommendations for remediation.

Strike’s methodology consistently outperforms industry standards, leading to the identification of more vulnerabilities than the market average. Clients who partner with us report better security outcomes and higher satisfaction, thanks to our meticulous and thorough approach. We’re confident that our manual pentesting process will provide organizations with the comprehensive security assessment it needs to stay protected.